Anyone Using Bio-Rad's Blood Bank Reagents?

[L106]

We are currently using some BioTest antisera (Rh and Kell). We were using their Anti-S, but now only use it for screening after false negatives were found and confirmed by DNA. BioTest has not been able to resolve the discrepancies.

How did you become aware that the Biotest Anti-S was giving false negatives? (ie: What brought the problem to light?) Thanks for the info!

Donna

[Mabel Adams]

My Bio-Rad rep also said they wouldn't be marketing gel till 2013. I really would like to see the effects of competition. Maybe that is why Ortho is going back to having BB reps instead of reps shared with Chem.

We compared Bio-Rad and Quotient reagents to our current (Ortho for everything but anti-D which is Immucor) and found the Bio-Rad anti-D to run weaker, while Quotient ran stronger. We are switching to the Quotient anti-D soon. The other reagents were very comparable. We haven't tried their special typing sera yet. I like doing enough tests that we have a "feel" for any differences, but agree that they are BoB approved so don't require validation per se.

[t_scarborough]

Yes, I am using the Bio-rad blood bank reagents..have been for about a year. No problems!!

I use just the basics. We reference our antibodies to our mother ship.

The price is substantial. Immucor has priced themselves out of this lab.

[hmust1]

I have tried the Biotest anti-e (after Immucor's supply was on backorder for many months) and I like it very much. We see good strong 4+ reactions and haven't had any trouble with it.

FYI - Immucor reagents are very competitively priced if you automate with them. Which seems odd, considering once you automate, you HAVE to use their reagents, so they've sort of got you...but I'll take it!

[BankerGirl]

We changed to Biorad several months ago because of substantial price savings. We did a trial run and compared the results with our current Immucor reagents, as well as our gel method and saw no problems. However, within a few days of switching, we had several Rh positive patients that did not react with the Biorad anti-D. We confirm ABO Rh on all new patients, and had some very confused/panicked techs when the types did not match. We have since switched back to Immucor anti-D and wish we could switch the ABO typing sera also, but we have committed to our buying group and cannot change. The negative results are grainy and look weakly positive sometimes with the Biorad reagents.

[Stoogiesfreak]

Not only are we using Bio-Rad's blood bank reagents (BioTest), but we are LIVE with their Tango system and it is wonderful. Our parallels and correlation study was better than the Immucor Capture we used to use. Tango picked up two antibodies that Capture had missed. One an Anti-C that has previously gone undetected by Capture. The Tango reacted at 2+. Could not be happier with the Tango.

[Beth Eades]

We had two incidents that were discovered a few months apart, but basically, it happened like this..... About 10 years ago when there was a shortage (to put it mildly) of commercial Anti-S, we were using unlicenced antisera (donor antibody) to mass screen our donors. These were random screenings, looking for "good stuff". A unit from a donor previously tested as S negative during this time period was used to fill an antigen order from a hospital. We confirmed the typing on this unit using Biotest Anti-S. The hospital found the unit to be incompatible. The unit DAT was negative so they retyped it for S. Using Immucor Anti-S, they found the unit to be S positive. It was returned to us and we typed the unit as positive with Immucor Anti-S and negative with Biotest Anti-S. We performed HEA typing by PCR and found the unit to be S positive. This information was reported to Biotest. While waiting to hear from them, a similar incident was discovered so we stopped using their Anti-S for confirmatory testing. The matter is still unresolved as far as I know. We were really disappointed to have to stop using it because a 5-minute Anti-S is a dream. We have had no problems with any of their other antisera and use Rh and K daily. Hope this helps!

[Stoogiesfreak]

Thanks for the information. We just recently had a similar incident with an Anti-C. We had a patient that Immucor was picking up a positive antibody screen and the ID showed an Anti-D.

When we were testing with the Tango it also picked up a positive antibody screen, but the ID was both Anti-D, and Anti-C. Immucor did not pick up the Anti-C. Both Immucor, and Biotest antisera were C negative, but we had gone for 5 years not picking up the Anti-C in this patient's serum.

We do have one patient with Anti-U, but we refer it to Red Cross Reference for units and workups. We don't have much use for S typing. However, I will certainly keep this information as it may come in handy.

Also, the cell that identified the Anti-C reacted at 2+ with the Tango, yet negative with Immucor.??

Thanks for the information.

John

[JEMarti]

There reagents are OK. With the notable exception of their Anti -Jka and Jkb. The reactions are weak enough that you can miss a weak positive on a heterozygote and we no longer use them for that reason. Also the Fya requires a 30 minute incubation which is much longer than the competition and I am not clear that they have an anti-Fyb.

Also be careful with the volume size of their rare antisera. Their volumes are small so you will go through the vials much faster. Their pricing is still better than Ortho or Immucor but not as much as it appears at first glance.

[OxyApos]

I borrowed a bottle of the Anti D by Biotest and had trouble with Cord specimens. If I were to switch to this product I would do a specific validation for those specimens regardless of the regs.